No real comments on this but I thought I'd post it, as it sort of relates to the topic of preservation.
Free: a good home
Sunday, August 10, 2008
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/08080...freehome080807
OTTAWA (CBC) - Ashley Mulroney's two-storey, three bedroom Ottawa house isn't for sale - she's giving it away for free.
"I'd like to call it my ultimate recycling project. I'd like to see the house get another chance," said Mulroney, who is holding an open house in the Manor Park neighbourhood on Sunday.
On Thursday, she offered CBC reporters a tour of the 1,200 square-foot house, which has white siding, purple shutters and a brick chimney joined to a working fireplace. Inside are hardwood floors, and big windows that overlook stately hardwood trees.
"The view doesn't come with the house, unfortunately," Mulroney said.
In fact, neither do the lot or the basement.
Mulroney is giving away the house because she learned that renovating it to suit her would cost as much as building a new one on the property, so she chose the latter option.
"And I don't think this house belongs in the dumpster. It's got a lot of years of good life left in it."
So Mulroney has listed the house on Fullcircles Ottawa, a recycling website where people can offer used items for free.
Mulroney said she will give the house to the first interested prospective homeowners who can prove they have land to put the house on within 100 kilometres of its current location. They also must be able to afford to move it.
Gilles St. Martin, who works for Chamberlain Lalonde Business Movers, estimated the house will cost $45,000 to $50,000 to relocate.
During the two-week job, the house would have to be cut to separate the first and second storeys. It would then be braced, put onto a flatbed truck using a crane, moved to its new location where it would be reassembled, again using a crane.
St. Martin said his company will be picking up and moving about 10 houses in the next two months.
"It's getting commoner and commoner every day," he said.
He thinks it's a good idea. "It gives people the opportunity to get a home at a much lower cost than building."
David Fleming, president of Heritage Ottawa, a group that promotes the preservation of heritage buildings and neighbourhoods, said he thinks Mulroney's decision to give away her home is "very noble" and preferable to demolishing it.
"It's nice to see quality housing recycled," he added. "I suspect this is about 50 years old and it's built a lot better than comparable houses are today."
Typically, he said, the group doesn't encourage people to move houses because their context and location are part of their heritage.
However, he said in this case, the neighbourhood is relatively new and not designated a heritage preservation area.
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